Issue 40: “Molding Interruptions”
Our mission at the Matthew 25 Initiative is to equip and sustain Anglicans serving alongside the vulnerable. The work of justice and mercy is often wondrous and also difficult. Holding beauty, naming pain, and contending for hope is what we do at M25i.
Continue with us in reflection and prayer through this series, "For the Soul," as poetry offers us Spirit-soaked imaginations.
Before you begin...
At every Evening Prayer liturgy and every Evensong service, we pray Mary's words when her world was turned upside-down. She heard a message from Gabriel that was irrational and a rather frightening proposition. On a dime she responded with such a profound declaration of "This is who God is. These are his ways. What he has revealed to me proves that he is this kind of God." Mary speaks to the God of justice and mercy. The Magnificat is a M25i song. Her lens wasn't a spiritualization of tyrants and victims. Instead, she was speaking to tangible realities.
As we walk through Epiphany, and wonder at the light that pierces the darkness, we offer a reading of Mary's song through the lens of Henri Nouwen's reflection on a transcendent interpretation of reality when we have a "Mary heart." We invite you to connect the dots.
We also invite you to enjoy this Celtic version of the Magnificat. Might the surprise of Jesus, the light of the world, break through a reality that often feels darkened, fixed, and intractable.
The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth's Home
Mary, before Jesus enters the scene
Luke 1:46-55
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me –
Holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants for ever, just as he promised our ancestors.
Molding Interruptions
by Henry Nouwen
in Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life
What if our history does not prove to be a blind impersonal sequence of events over which we have no control, but rather reveals to us a guiding hand pointing to a personal encounter in which all our hopes and aspirations will reach their fulfillment?
Then our life would indeed be a different life because then "fate" becomes opportunity, wounds a warning, and paralysis an invitation to search for deeper sources of vitality.
Then we can look for hope in the middle of crying cities, burning hospitals and desperate parents and children. Then we can cast off the temptation of despair and speak about the fertile tree while witnessing the drying of the seed.
Then indeed we can break out of the prison of an anonymous series of events and listen to the God of history who speaks to us in the centre of our solitude and respond to his ever new call for conversion.
Listen
As you read this, who comes to mind? Forward this email to your friends who care about the vulnerable. We hope that they would be encouraged to see other Anglicans who care too. We are not alone in this work. Would you speak a "yes" to this work with a gift? It would really bless us.
